Fall

Fall arrived last week, unmistakable and sudden. Wednesday and Thursday were rainy, our first rain in a while, and the temperature cooled off. But then when Friday dawned bright and clear, the heat didn't return. There was a definate chilly edge in the air.

The weather here is a wonder. It's extreme, mixed-up and arrives without warning. I've always lived near the coast; and apparently the ocean really does have a tempering influence. Last week, my cheeks were red from sunburn after walking across town, this week they're red from cold. Those still, hot days of 95+ degrees are, thankfully, over. And the leaves haven't even started to turn!

Appropriately, this was also my first week back at school. It's teacher-prep time; (hopefully my schedule will be "finalized" today, *fingers crossed*) in advance of the first classes on monday.

~Winter is coming~

Summer Winds Down

I hope you were all too busy enjoying summertime to be sitting indoors checking out this blog! Anyway, school is right around the corner, and it's time for me to get back into the routine.
My main activities this summer were studying Mongolian language, spending time with some new Mongolian friends, teaching an English class twice weekly at an apartment where prostitutes and street women have the chance to live and pursue other work; and making several short trips to different areas of the countryside!
It was a laid-back but very rich summer for me.

First, after working very hard and weathering an extreme winter, Mongolians take whatever chance they have to go to the countryside and relax during the summer. The weather gets very hot, (90's-100 in UB until just a few days ago) and everybody tries to get outside the city to breath fresh air, rest, and drink lots of airag! Airag is sour-tasting, fermented mare's milk. I enjoy a glass now and then, but Mongolians love it! They can drink it by the bottlefull.

I was happy to have time to study Mongolian a little more seriously than during school when I spoke English all day and didn't study outside of class. However, I was happy to see some progress during the summer as I put in the effort, and have been rewarded by a greater ability to understand and make myself understood. I try to speak my pidgin Mongolian every chance I have.

I got to practice during the English class at the house for street women, since the girls knew no English; they were outgoing, bright teenagers and willing to be patient! That was a blast. The girls, who'd had only sketchy high school educations, were happy to learn, even though they hadn't done much school in a while. Two girls stuck it out the whole summer, and I'm going to miss them a lot as they leave in the fall, and I go back to school. The challenging part of the project was getting attached to girls who suddenly disappear back to their previous, hard lives.

I also took every opportunity to travel outside the city! Most trips were short, but memorable. I went on a two-day horse trip in the National Park near UB; and on a 20-km hike through the most trees I'd ever seen in Mongolia. My favorite two were probably the one in early June, covered in this blog, and a short one to visit a herder family later in July. I took the night train to Erdenet with a Swiss-French YWAMer who was going to visit an elderly couple she's known for several years. From Erdenet, we gathered a couple more folks, and hired a taxi to drive us to Bulguun and beyond where we had to stop and ask at a ger to find out exactly where they'd set up for the summer.

Tuya and Valodia are getting quite old (he's bedridden after a stroke) but they're both as active as their bodies will allow them to be. We joined in and helped with whatever work we could. They own about a thousand animals, they estimated, horses, sheep, cows and goats. Their two sons come and work with the animals every day. This is milking season for mares, and they were gathering and milking the horses every few hours. Needless to say, we drank a lot of airag while we were there; the airag that comes from this area is famously the best.

Late in the evening a thunderstorm struck, and Edit, Marielle and I sprinted out around a huge herd of sheep, gathering them into a pen as the rain started coming down! (I also tried milking a cow for the first time.) Sleeping in the ger, at night was interesting too. There's not much privacy, and the light would go on from time to time as various family members or neighbors dropped by into the night. Overall, it was a wonderful memory and I practiced both Mongolian and French quite a bit!

I also went to Korean language camp for a week; an activity at my school during the summer. I can't say I learned much; the students were mostly way ahead of me when we started! It was fun though.

I'm going back to school this fall with a wider picture and deeper regard for Mongolia. I'm know I'll miss it when this year is finished.

Naadam Festival

On July 11, the national, Naadam festival kicked off. These festivals were held traditionally during the Mongol empire as a chance to bring everyone back from the far reaches of the empire, giving them a chance to compete in their traditional games. The festival was begun again when Mongolia regained its independence from China, during the past century. The festival goes on for a few days, with horse racing, wrestling, and archery. I only saw the opening ceremonies at the big Naadam stadium on the 11 with Rachel and a group of other friends as kind of a farewell weekend for her. The day was hot, with rain threatening, but thankfully we stayed dry!

The ceremonies proved to be a long, leisurely affair. There were contortionists performing in giant, wheeled flowers, and an introduction by the president, resplendent in his traditional dress. Dancers and shamans performed. The royal guard horsemen entered and circled the stadium to rousing applause. The Beijiing ’08 Olympic national team was introduced. All in all, it was a nationalistic celebration of all things Mongolian.

Finally, we decided to go back outside to check out the food stands and other stalls. Chris informed us that eating õóóøóóð (hoshor= a thin slice of meat fried in between two layers of batter), was a necessary part of the Naadam experience so we waited one hour for grossly overpriced food. Still, it was a good time, and while we waited and chatted we were able to meet some other folks we knew.

We were all surprised by the large amount of foreigners present at the festival. It appears some people center their Mongolian travel plans around the Naadam festival. A few of my students sent me text messages on my phone, wishing me a happy celebration.

After we ate, we met Ariuna, a friend of ours who was competing in the women’s archery and we followed her to cheer her on and watch some archers competing. Afterwards, we caught a bus home, quickly finished packing up our things, and headed out to the countryside to stay in a ger camp (something like staying in cabins at home) for a couple of nights as a last hurrah for Rachel.

People were concerned that there may be another outbreak of the unprecedented violence surrounding the election, once the festival was over, but thankfully those fears have proved unfounded. While the organization of the next government still has not finalized, life in general is continuing much the same.